Too Good to Wait for Christmas with adam&eveDDB

"For christmas, people love tradition but prefer to get to Waitrose food as quickly as possible"
Hugh De Winton, Planning Director at adam&eveDDB tells us the genesis and the story of the campaign "Too Good to Wait".

Give us an overview of the campaign: what is it about and what was your role in its creation?

My role was as strategic lead – finding a way for Waitrose & Partners to stand out and succeed during the most important trading period of the year.

The campaign is based on the observation that as much as we all love the traditions and rituals at Christmas time, it’s often the food that we are really looking forward to.

And when that food is from Waitrose & Partners, we will do whatever it takes to get to the food as quickly as possible. From this truth, our idea ‘Too good to wait’ was born.

Was the brief for this Christmas spot different from those in the past? If so, what challenges did that present?

We initially approached the task from a few angles. The challenge from my perspective was admitting that interesting strategic thinking doesn’t necessarily lead to interesting creative work.

I had to swallow my ego, get everyone back together and try again. By sticking together and relentlessly interrogating the problem, we eventually got to a great idea and work that feels very right to the brand.

What inspired you to approach the campaign this way?

The undeniable truth that every guest at Christmas secretly hopes the host has bought the food from Waitrose & Partners.

What’s a “behind the scenes” story that only you know about?

Completely by chance, The Mistletoe script was filmed at my friend’s house.

Obviously being a planner I wasn’t invited to any of it so have no idea what actually happened behind the scenes.

Are there any seasonal ad tropes you think should be retired by now?

The overwhelmed host

What is your favourite seasonal ad of all time?

Early on in my career, I remember being knocked sideways by this.

What can we expect from your agency in 2019?

Another wonderful year from an agency at the top of their game

The advertising industry’s New Year's resolution should be…?

More focus on creativity. Less on the stuff that gets in the way of it.